My Folly

The alarm clock chimes at 4:30am and forces it's way into some quickly forgotten dream. The sun's not up yet but you are. No time for breakfast or even coffee. The upside is that you get to go on a rare pre-dawn motorcycle ride through nearly deserted city streets. That might be nice. The cool air of the morning wakes you as you make your way through what looks every bit like night. But the clock is ticking. All too quickly, the sky will lighten. If you were to let that happen before you arrive, waking at 4:30 would be pointless. Wasted. You twist on the throttle, dip your head a little lower and press on, carefully balancing the legal speed limit, your limited visibility into the darkness, the threat of being pulled over and the urgency of getting to the coast on the hope of getting that picture that changes the world. You remind yourself that this is what photographers do. You resolve that, in this excessively early morning, you're paying your dues.

The beach was littered, not with trash or debris.. but with photographers. There was the fashion shoot on the right. I small group of people and tripods to the left. Sparsely spread out along the beach were others with cameras in hand. Clearly, I was not the only one who got out early. Hurricane Irma tore through the Caribbean and could be here in a few days. But this was a beautiful morning and the clouds, likely the very outer edges of Irma, painted the sunrise sky with soft pastel colors. I would let neither go to waste.

The winds coming off the ocean weren't so strong that they were unpleasant, but they were enough to create beautiful waves texturing the ocean. I was astounded how quickly the winds coated my lenses with sea and salt. While I always try to remember having lens wipes with me, I'm just as consistent in not doing so. In a move that might horrify some more professional photographers, I wiped my lens with my t-shirt and pushed through.

Here are some of those photos. This may not, specifically, be motorcycle photography. But I got here on a motorcycle. That counts for something. Still bringing you that domestic motorcycle travel media.